s t e w a k d



, j @uitrit *Ja-tts silent l ,t'lftr'aV Letter; Patent/N0. 79,023, meJane 16,1868.

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TO AIiL WHM I'.l. MAY-GONERN i Beit known that I, A. STEWARD, of Plano,inthe county of Kendall,.and State of Illinois, have invented a new andimproved Thred-Show-Case; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact` description of the construction andoperation'of the same, reference being'had to the annexed drawing,making a part of this specification, and to the letters ofreferencemarked thereon.

The drawing shows the thread-case, lled'with spools of thread, inworking order.

Partslettered as follows:-

A, end of case; B, top of same C,` fascia D, partitions; E, stops; F,spools of thread; Gshelv|es, forming inclined planes.

I construct my ease as follows:

I make, of thin boards, orr'any other suitable material,` apart of a boxor case, that is to say, the top, ends, and back of one, one end ofwhich is shown'at Aand the top atB. The back and one end 'not shown in'the drawing. Between these ends, -I place a seriesof doors or shelves,G, dividing the space into a succession of lofts or stories.Y The frontedge ofthe lower shelf is placed at the bottom of the case, while itsback edge is elevated, forming an inclined plane, rising vat the rateof, say, two inches lper foot. The shelves above this one are placed intheir due order above it, with the saule inclination, and consequentlyparallel with it from front toback. VThe position of these shelves isindicated by the dotted lines on the end of the case. These severalstories I also divide, by partitions, into chambers orvcells, the endsof which partitions are shown at D D, lite.

'As spool-thread is graded in iineness, and the spools are made in sizeto correspond, l. graduate the cells accordingly by placing one end ofthe shelves nearer. together `than the other, and narrow the cells toaccom modate the lengthot the spools, leaving only space enough between'the partitions to allow the spools te roll freely, and space enoughbetween the shelves to permit the-spools to be raised in removing themfrom the'case, as hereafter described. The vacant space vin front, overthe upper cells, I cove'r with a fascia, as shown at C in the drawing. l

It will now be seen that spools placed within these cells,slopin'gforward as they do, will roll out unless prevented.` To' preventthis rolling out, Ifasten a cleat upon the front edge of each shelf,wide enough above the shelt` to stop the spools, which cleats are shownat E, and whioh I will call stops. As a substitute for this form ofstop, a short perpendicular peg may be inserted into the shelfrat theverge of each cell, or any other equivalent device may be adopted; but Iprefer the cleats.

The front ends ofthe partitions, together with the correspondingportions ofthe ends ofthe case, are pared away, as seen in the drawing,in'arc-form. This is done to allow the thumb and in'ger to the more4readily take hold of the spool.l Now, above these cells, I place therespective numbers of the spools which the cells are to contain, as seenin the drawing. o

It may be cnstructed to contain any variety off-colors, range-,ofnumbers, or kinds of thread. This sho'wcase is designed moreparticularly for the use of'merchants in retailing thread.

The cells are lled from the front, though, ii` desirable,l the back maybe left o' and the {lling done from the rear. Its operation is asfollows:

Any number of thread sought for is found at a glance Vby the `figuresupon its cell. The spool is taken from the case by holding it betweenthe thumb and nger' and lifting' it over the stop E, when those behindit immediately roll forward till the next spool strikes the stop; thenext spool automatically taking the place of the one removed, thuskeeping the whole assortment continually in view.,

What I clairn as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is- I The show-case for containing spools of thread, consisting of theends A, top B, partitions D, stops E, and

ll d lnesGsbtnt'all d. inc me p a u s a 1 y as speci e *A STEWARD'Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. JONES, p FRED. W; Gonna.

